In a slot machine, which is one type of a game machine, a plurality of different types of symbols are provided on each of a plurality of reels. The reels rotate, and when the reels are stopped, the symbols showing through a window and the order in which those symbols are aligned determine a combination. An award is provided on the basis of the combination determined in this manner and a betting number. The reels begin to rotate when a pushbutton or a lever provided in the slot machine to start the rotation is manipulated. In slot machines installed in a casino or the like, the reels are automatically stopped under the control of the machine.
Rather than having slot machines manufactured by only one game machine manufacturer, gaming facilities such as casinos have slot machines manufactured by a variety of game machine manufacturers. Players select a preferred slot machine out of the machines from the various game machine manufacturers and play the selected machine. A gaming facility will therefore install slot machines popular with players to gain an advantage over other competing gaming facilities. In response, game machine manufacturers continue to develop slot machines that appeal to players.
For example, JP 2005-111137A discloses a slot machine provided with a display unit constituted of a touch panel, where characters, a numerical keypad, and the like are displayed in the display unit and the touch panel can be used to set a betting number, start the rotation of the reels, and so on.
JP 2005-111137A (published Apr. 28, 2005) and Japanese Patent No. 5866825 (registered Jan. 15, 2016) are examples of background art.
However, with the slot machine disclosed in JP 2005-111137A, a player must check the screen to see whether or not a betting number has been set through a touch operation each time s/he sets a betting number. As a result, the operating sensation is poorer than a traditional pushbutton system, and cannot provide an intuitive operating sensation (a clicking sensation, for example). Furthermore, having the player check the screen each time s/he sets a betting number is problematic in that more time is required for a single game, which reduces a sense of speed and quickness.
In light of such issues, the applicants for the present invention invented a switch unit in which an operating button is arranged over a display unit, with an elastic material interposed therebetween, such that images from the display unit are visible through the operating button. A lens that makes images from the display unit appear to be displayed on the operating surfaces of keys is furthermore arranged between the display unit and the operating button (see Japanese Patent No. 5866825).
According to one or more aspects, not only can various displays be made in the display unit, but an intuitive operating sensation of keys being depressed can also be achieved. Furthermore, achieving this intuitive operating sensation makes it unnecessary to check the screen for the details set with each operation, which makes it possible to achieve a similar sense of speed and quickness as provided by a pushbutton system. Further still, images from the display unit, which is behind the keys, appear to be displayed on the operating surfaces of the keys, such that the operating surfaces sensed visually match the operating surfaces sensed by touch. This makes operations with sensations similar to those of a pushbutton possible.
Incidentally, in the case where an operating button is a light-transmissive member, images in an input region displayed in the display unit are reflected by side surface walls of the three-dimensional operating button, and these reflections are visible to the player. This is problematic in that the player will sense a distance between the image and a first member (a sense of depth in the image).
In response to this, in the switch unit according to Japanese Patent No. 5866825, the side surface walls of the operating button are sloped surfaces that broaden outward as the walls progress downward, with the sloped surfaces arranged on the far side with respect to the player, such that light reflected by the side surface walls is not visible to the player. This reduces the sense of depth in the images for the player.
The one or more aspects provide a game machine pushbutton that reduces a sense of depth in an image for a player using a different technique from that disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5866825, and enhances an aesthetic effect.